Planning For Winter Storms (Part Three)

October 30, 2014

This is the final part of my Three Part Planning for Winter Storms series. You can check out Parts One and Two here. This part is all about the other little miscellaneous items that you might not have yet or thought about preparing.

No matter how you do it you will want to get some water. Clean drinking water is a must during any kind of emergency and is not to be messed with. It is a good practice to have a supply to last at least 72 hours which means you will need to gather and store 1 gallon per person. You can do this with bottles or with gallon jugs but get some and keep people away from it unless it is an emergency.

Other things to think about are:

Flashlights – for moving about the house if the power is out is essential. My favorite flashlights are LED Maglites. They last a really long time and are really bright. Make sure whatever flashlight you get you make sure you have some extra batteries, just in case.

Alternative Heat – Heating your home is another concern if the power goes out. If you have a wood heating furnace you are set! But if you stove is powered by electric and your electric goes out you need another plan. You can purchase a generator to power the electric furnace or buy wood for an indoor fireplace if you have one.

Camp Stove – If the power goes out you will need some way to cook your stored food. You can use your grill outside if you have someone who wants to brave the cold or also a camp stove as an alternative method to cooking when the power is out. Having a selection of lunch meats for sandwiches in a pinch is also a great idea.

Fire Extinguisher – This isn’t winter storm specific but a really good thing to keep around the house. Accidents and “Acts of God” can happen to the most prepared and careful person so it is better to be safe and prepared than sorry and out of luck.

First Aid Kit – Earlier this year Gunnar had a mishap with a knife and cut the end of his finger. Unfortunately our first aid kit was out of gauze so we used cotton balls and bandaids. This was a terrible idea on many levels but when blood is flowing and you don’t have a lot of options you just kind of roll with it. So with these last few days before this all really sets in take stock of your medicine cabinet and first aid kit. Make sure you have bandages, ointments, asprin, cold medicines and anything else that you might need on a cold wintery night.

Activities to Keep You Busy – Not only are all the things listed above important. You should also spend some time planning activities you and your family can do inside and without power if necessary. Some options include: getting to that reading list you always want to, clean out a closet or two, have a themed movie marathon (include hot chocolate for bonus points), check out Pinterest for great ideas to keep little ones busy or crafts you and your family can use to decorate your home.

About Me

Hello, my name is Michaela. I'm a homemade life blogger. I am passionate about design, photography, and blogging! I want to craft a wonderful online space for Happy Apple and through this process teach myself all that I can learn about graphic design, blogging, photography, and living wonderfully.